Fewer U.S. citizens are headed to graduate school, and the decision not to go could put a dent in their paychecks.
First-time enrollment of U.S. citizens and permanent residents shrank by about 1 percent between fall 2012 and fall 2013, according to a September report from the Council of Graduate Schools. But a 2014 Pew Research Center analysis of the latest available salary data showed that median monthly earnings for young adults with master’s degrees were 24 percent higher than for those with bachelor’s degrees. Graduates with professional or doctoral degrees had earnings that were 51 percent higher.
For prospective students interested in the potential payoff and other benefits, figuring out where to go to graduate school, what to study and how to pay for it can take months. To help with those decisions, U.S. News has released the 2016 Best Graduate Schools rankings, which include admissions information for those aspiring to study law, business, medicine, education and engineering.
For the first time, U.S. News is also offering expanded rankings and data for nursing schools.
Graduate schools in these six disciplines, which are ranked annually, are evaluated on standardized test scores of newly enrolled students, employment outcomes of graduates and other criteria. The rankings methodology varies across disciplines to account for differences in each graduate program. The MBA rankings, for example, take into account the mean starting salary and bonus for graduates from full-time programs, while law schools are evaluated in part by the ratings of each program’s quality by practicing lawyers and judges.
In one notable change to the law school methodology this year, U.S. News altered the way it evaluates students’ success at landing jobs after graduation. Less weight was given to jobs for graduates if they were funded by the law school or the university.
[Video: See highlights of the new graduate schools rankings.]
Business: The Graduate School of Business at Stanford University took the No. 1 spot for top business schools, followed by Harvard Business School in second and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in third.
Those three schools topped the rankings in a tie for first place last year. But other institutions moved significantly. Mays Business School at Texas A&M University rose 10 spots to No. 27, where it’s tied with two other schools . Wake Forest University‘s business school, which tied for No. 58 in last year’s rankings, leaped to a tie for No. 45.
Among part-time MBA programs, the University of California–Berkeley’s Haas School of Business again took the No. 1 spot, followed by the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago in second place and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in third. The Fox School of Business and Management at Temple University saw one of the largest changes in the rankings, moving from a tie at No. 53 to a tie for No. 20.
See photos of [the 20 top-ranked business schools.]
Law: Yale Law School remained No. 1 among the top law schools, but there was some reshuffling among other schools. Harvard Law School kept the No. 2 spot, but had to share it with the law school at Stanford University.
The School of Law at the University of California–Irvine, which was not ranked last year, advanced to No. 30. The law school at Wake Forest University fell from No. 31, where it was tied with several other schools, to a tie for No. 47.
East Coast schools continued to lead the rankings for part-time law programs, with Georgetown University at No. 1, George Washington University at No. 2 and Fordham University at No. 3. The Chicago-Kent College of Law at Illinois Institute of Technology climbed nine spots to land at No. 14 in this year’s rankings, where it is tied with Georgia State University. Texas A&M University jumped from No. 48, where it was tied with four schools, to a tie at No. 31.
Photos: See which [law schools landed at the top of the rankings.]
Medicine: Harvard University again came in at No. 1 among medical schools for research, and Stanford University held on to the second spot. Johns Hopkins University and the University of California–San Francisco tied for third. New York University rose five spots to No. 14, and tied with Vanderbilt University.
The University of Washington and the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill continued to lead as Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in rankings for primary care. A new school moved into the No. 3 spot: UC–San Francisco. It replaced Oregon Health and Science University, which dropped to a tie at No. 5. University of Colorado moved up a few spots, from tying at No. 13 to holding the No. 8 spot.
Nursing: In U.S. News’ first expanded ranking of nursing schools, the University of Pennsylvania was No. 1 among master’s programs. The University of California–San Francisco and Johns Hopkins University were tied for No. 2.
Engineering: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the University of California–Berkeley took the top three spots, just as they have in previous years for graduate engineering programs. The University of Michigan–Ann Arbor moved from being tied for No. 8 to being tied for No. 6.
Education: Johns Hopkins University remained at No. 1 among graduate education programs. Harvard University moved up to become No. 2, while Stanford University and Vanderbilt University tied for No. 3. The University of Michigan–Ann Arbor slipped from being tied for No. 8 to taking the No. 11 spot.
Searching for a grad school? Get our complete rankings of Best Graduate Schools.
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U.S. News Releases 2016 Best Graduate Schools Rankings originally appeared on usnews.com
